CH 22: The Black Panther

Everyone except Jason was shocked by the result. Jason knew that he amassed the largest and most diverse force as well as stole many first achievements from the others. Even if he left the game halfway through, it was still very difficult to beat his score.

"The first trial was to test you as a leader. The second trial will be to test you as warriors. You will each fight every one of the other members of the final four while choosing a weapon or weapons you wish to use. You will not have an army supporting you or skills to rely on. This is based on your pure martial abilities."

Bast let out a loud roar before teleporting the 8 royal members and herself into an arena. In the stands of the arena, were tens of men who looked like old and wrinkly black men. Jason did not recognize who any of them were but the rest of the royals there did. They each knelt in the presence of the figures, the same they had done for Bast when they first met her.

"We greet the great kings who have passed!" shouted the royal family members.

'So these old guys are old kings who are dead? Super weird. I'm around a bunch of ghosts.'

"The battles shall be one on one until you have faced one of everyone. Let the trial begin!"

4 bolts of lightning came down from the sky and transported or destroyed the 4 finalists bodies.

When Jason opened his eyes, he was standing in a small arena with T'challa standing before him. Jason had a menu before him that had pictures of various weapons he could summon. There seemed to be no one else watching them.

'So they are probably watching in a magical way. I am dealing with a freaky cat goddess right now. Let us plan this out. T'challa will most likely beat his sister and that other guy with how great his skills are supposed to be.

Shuri should be able to beat that other guy so I'll let her beat me so she can have two wins under her belt. I guess that means I have to beat the most likely champion and that other guy in order to create a three-way tie.

So I need to defeat two people who have trained for this moment their whole lives. Guess I need to cheat and play dirty.'

T'challa swiftly chose his weapons, gloves with extendable blades coming out of them. Jason, on the other hand, took 3 minutes to go through the entire menu of weapons, before picking out 5 daggers, a spear, and a chain.

Jason placed the spear on his back and the daggers on a belt around his hips. As for the chain, he wrapped it around his arms to protect from T'challa's claws.

T'challa said nothing of Jason's choice before bowing to show his respect. Jason took that chance to throw two of his daggers before charging at T'challa. The dark purple figure swiftly jumped to avoid the daggers aimed at his legs.

Jason used that chance to throw two more daggers at T'challa who was stuck in mid-air. Both struck T'challa's shoulders and disabled them. Jason could not beat T'challa if he started the fight fairly and he knew it. Jason was not trying to win fairly though.

Seeing that T'challa's arms were done for, Jason charged in and attempted to stab the prince with his spear. He was able to dodge the blow but Jason took the chance to swipe at his legs and cut one off at the knee.

T'challa did not hesitate to use the opportunity to break Jason's spear. The best way for Jason to finish T'challa was to move into his range and stab him with his last dagger. Which is exactly what he did. If Jason threw it and missed, he would only have his chain left.

Jason's body charged into T'challa who was ready to receive him. In only a moment, both exchanged blows that they hoped to be the end of the battle. Soon, the figure of T'challa shattered.

[Winner: Jason]

Jason was not given a chance to recover before another bolt of lightning struck him and he was forced to face Azzuri. The same menu as before was placed before him. His dark green opponent chose twin blades and began to twirl them like a sword dancer. The moves were enchanting and amazing. If Jason did not have to ensure his victory, he would have just kept watching and allowing his opponent to get fully into his rhythm.

Jason looked at the menu and confirmed the weapon he saw before was still there. Jason saw it and was happy.

'With this, my victory is assured. If I chose this last round, that goddess may have taken it away.'

Jason chose the weapon from the menu and it appeared within his hands. Within his arms was a large minigun. Azzuri stopped swinging his swords in shock when he saw the weapon that Jason had summoned.

Jason did not even wait for Azzuri to bow before pulling the trigger and opening fire on the dark green figure. The first shot broke through the figure's arms before the rest soon started striking at various other parts of man. In less than a second, he was already defeated but Jason kept his finger on the trigger for a full minute in order to assure his opponent did not rise again.

'More dakka, gaejasig.'

Jason was struck by lightning as soon as he released the trigger. When he opened his eyes once again, he was standing before the light purple figure of Shuri.

"How many have you won so far?" questioned Jason

"I've won both of my previous matches. Azzari was weaker than me and my brother was off his game for some reason. I assume that has something to do with you."

Jason was shocked to the point where he did not know how to respond. He did not want to win nor did he want to create a winner. But in the current situation, whether he won or loss, one of the pair standing in the arena would become the Black Panther.

Jason did not hesitate to summon a pair of daggers and stab them both through his head before Shuri even acted. He wanted to guarantee that he did not win by mistake or accident. While he was unsure of who the Black Panther was or who Wakandans were, being their ruler was not something he wanted to do.

Lightning struck both Shuri and Jason before making them appear in the original arena. When Jason looked around, he saw the shocked faces of all of the previous kings in the stands as well as the participants of the first trial. Even Bast had a little shock in her eyes but quickly concealed.

'This mortal is far too weird. Far too weird. If were to truly become the king of Wakanda, he would either bring it to the greatest prosperity it would have ever seen or bring it to ruin. Luckily, he made the decision for me and did not force me to intervene.'

T'challa and Azzuri soon appeared afterward with each on looking duller than they had before the trial. It seemed that the stress caused by Jason had a true impact on their spirits.

After ensuring everyone had arrived, Bast spoke up to announce the winner.

"The new Black Panther and king of Wakanda, shall be Shuri. You shall eat the heart-shaped herb and become the next in line to rule over our great nation. Do me proud or you shall bear the consequences."

No one could say a word of complaint, praise, or thanks before they were shattered and disappeared from the arena and city.

--Shield HQ, Infirmary--

Jason sat upon his bed and started coughing violently. It took him a few moments to recover. Jason felt up and down his body to ensure that he was really back. When Jason saw that his body was really his, he calmed down and laid back in the bed. He looked out the window and saw that it was night. Jason closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep.

'I've had a month to think about my answer to mother. Guess I will have to give it tomorrow. So troublesome.'